CONSTRUCTING MODERN WOMENS LEADERSHIP IDENTITIES IN THE ARABIAN

CONSTRUCTING MODERN WOMEN’S LEADERSHIP IDENTITIES IN THE ARABIAN GULF: SYNTHESISING ROLES FROM CULTURE, TRADITION AND MODERNISATION Dr. Eugenie Samier and Ms. Amal Al. Gallaf

INTRODUCTION HRH Princess Sabeeka bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa Dr. Jawaher Al Mudhahki Dr. Nada Hafadh

GAPS IN THE LITERATURE Lack of documentation: • More women in senior organisational & community positions • Roles in reshaping social institutions • Provision of role models & mentoring Analysis: • Most ‘Western’ leadership models biased towards other societal/cultural values & arrangements

PROLIFERATION OF PARTIAL LEADERSHIP THEORIES (REPRESENTATIVE) • Women’s/Feminist (Kanter, Gemmill & Oakley; Carli & Eagly) 1970 s+ • Contingency (Fiedler, House) 1960 s/70 s • Theory X & Y (Mc. Gregor) 1960 s • Situational (Stogdill, Hersey & Blanchard) 1950 s/70 s • Power Relations (French & Raven) 1950 s • Motivation Theory (Herzberg) 1950 s • Behavioural Theory (Stogdill, Katz)

LEADERSHIP THEORIES CONT. • Leadership as an Art (Depree) 1980 s • Distributed (Brown & Hosking) 1980 s • Organisational Culture (Schein) 1980 s • Theory Z (Japanese/US Blend) (Ouchi) 1980 s • Personality/Disorders (Kets de Vries) 1980 s+ • Servant Leadership (Greenleaf) 1970 s • Charismatic (House, Shamir, Conger & Kanungo) 1970 s/1990 s

NEWER THEORIES • Toxic (Kellerman, Kets de Vries, Lipman-Blumen) 1990 s/2000 s • Cross-cultural (Hofstede, Trompenaars, GLOBE) 1990 s+ • Adaptive Change Model (Heifetz) 1990 s+ • Relational/Identity Model (Komives) 1990 s • Spiritual (Fairholm, Fry) 1990 s+ • Creative (Parnes-Osborn) 1990 s • Exemplary Model (Kouzes & Posner) 1990 s

TURN-OF-THE-CENTURY • Diversity (Eagly, Chin) 2010 s • Strategic (Finkelstein, Boal) 2000 s • Ideological (Strange & Mumford) 2000 s • Social Network (Balkundi & Kilduff) 2000 s • Cognitive Abilities (Lord, Hall, Mumford) 2000 s • Ethical/Moral (Ciulla) 2000 s • E-Leadership/Virtual teams (Zigurs) 2000 s • Team-based (Hill)

LEADERSHIP IN ISLAM (EMAN ELKALEH & E. A. SAMIER, 2013) Tolerance Honesty Empathy Guardian Patience Servant Compassion Justice Kindness (ihsan) Shura / Consultation Builds on work of Ali 2005, Beeken & Badawi 1999 8

LIMITATIONS OF WESTERN MODELS (GLOBE STUDIES) 1: Leader-Centred – conflicts where priority is egalitarianism in power 2: Male-Dominated (US) – conflicts where masculine ideals & traits don’t dominate 3: Universal Traits - leader self-confidence less valued in collectivist cultures where harmony more important 4: Quantifiable Performance - short-term bias conflicts with long-term oriented cultures 5: Individualistic – individual achievements, merit & rewards conflicts with majority of world (collectivist) with emphasis on group cohesion

APPROACH TO PROPOSED MODEL • Exploratory theory-building • Social constructivist, critical & postcolonial theories (comprehensive): individual+group+organisational+societ al levels integrated • Interdisciplinary • Criteria: 1) comprehensive/contextualised; 2) culturally sensitive

INTERDEPENDENT LEVELS OF ANALYSIS: INFLUENCES ON IDENTITY & LEADERSHIP ROLE FORMATION 1. historical, social & cultural contextualisation 2. individual level through social identity and agency-cultural identity formation theory 3. interpersonal interactions 4. social institutions through organisational social constructivism

1. CONTEXTUAL FORCES External Local • Past colonial influences • History • Modernisation influences (industrialisation, economics, administrative models, etc. ) • Cultural & religious traditions • Traditional roles, social structures • Globalisation influences (media, culture, education, • Traditional social institutions (e. g. , legal) etc. ) • Internationalisation (e. g. , travel) • Geo-political strategic centre

VALUES (FOX, MOURTADA-SABBAH & AL-MUTAWA 2006) • • priority of family and its dignity and honour religion providing ultimate meaning and morality transactions focused on the influence of kin and friends hospitality, generosity and sharing loyalty to family and friends & patience and mercy pride of and respect for heritage and tradition family councils to discuss issue justice, honesty, and compassion for the down-trodden and honest transactions to avoid disgracing one’s family name • show of strength, courage & defence of one’s family, land rights • respect for authority, patriarchy, gender segregation and deference to family/clan/tribal patriarch demands • modesty in dress

AMERICAN CORE VALUES (FOX, MOURTADA-SABBAH & AL-MUTAWA 2006) • secular, materialist, and individualist • equal opportunity • achievement and success • material comfort; activity and work • practicality and efficiency • progress • science • democracy and free enterprise • freedom

LEVEL 1 CONTEXT

2. THE INDIVIDUAL LEVEL: SOCIAL IDENTITY THEORY (TAJFEL 1982; CÔTÉ AND LEVINE 2002) Group membership: • choosing the group • identifying with its norms & attitudes • embedding self-concept in it Integration of personality, social interaction & social structures: • guided by cultural and religious norms

CÔTÉ & LEVINE (2002)

LEVEL 2: THE INDIVIDUAL LEVEL

3. INTERPERSONAL INTERACTIONS (BLUMER 1969; GOFFMAN 1969) • Symbolic interaction (Blumer): meaningful use of symbols & objects in one’s world in an interpretive process (embedded in family structure, tribal affiliations, status group norms) • Social interaction (Goffman): ritual performance of roles informed by values & cultural norms Both operate through networks, role models & mentors

LEVEL 3: INTERPERSONAL INTERACTION

4. ORGANISATIONAL & SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS (GERGEN 1994) Social constructivism: org’s & social institutions form out of people’s experiences, values, religious and cultural norms producing org’l realities in interaction • Communal rationality (not ‘objective’ rationality) • Produce realities (not observe ‘objective’ reality) • Language is part of the construction (not means of representing or reflecting in ‘scientistic’ models)

CONSTRUCTION OF WOMEN’S LEADERSHIP ROLES • On institution and organisation level 2 domains providing for women in leadership roles: ü state level - laws, policies & programmes support (educ, training) & appointment of women for leadership in formal and informal ways ü organisation level - formal policies, informal practices, supportive org culture

CONCLUSION: ANOTHER PATH? • Fox, Mourtada-Sabbah & Al-Mutawa (2006): “The Arab Gulf region: Traditionalism globalized or globalization traditionalized? ” • conceptualising leadership identity formation for women that conserves cultural & religious norms and values while modernising

IMPLICATIONS • Theoretical: leadership identity formation incorporating context, psycho-social models, symbolic/social interactionism & social constructivist organisation • Research: stronger role for interpretive, critical theory & postcolonial approaches - focus on meaning construction (hermeneutics), experiential dimensions (phenomenology), cultural practices (ethnography & historiography); AND indigenous research methods • Professional development: models and training including authentic cultural factors (not extracted ‘objective’ variables) • Graduate programmes: include international material AND local and regional knowledge; grounded in comparative and cross-cultural studies.

ANY QUESTIONS?